A DEVASTATED Cardiff City fan spent nearly £25,000 in five hours drowning his FA Cup final sorrows in a strip club.

The unnamed businessman, thought to be a property developer, splashed the cash on topless women, champagne and brandy following the Bluebirds’ 1-0 Wembley defeat to Portsmouth last Saturday.

He watched the match with mates in the stadium’s top seats before travelling back to Cardiff and hitting the capital’s bars.

The businessman and his four-strong entourage arrived at the Fantasy Lounge on St Mary Street at 11pm – and by 4am had spent £24,395.

His £2,560 bar bill, funded by an exclusive black American Express card, included:

n £400 on eight shots of Louis XIII cognac at £50 each;

n £1,200 on six bottles of Louis Roederer Cristal champagne at £200 each;

n £600 on two bottles of Dom Perignon champagne Rosé at £300 each;

n £360 on six bottles of Laurent Perrier Rosé at £60 each.

He spent the rest on paying a group of gorgeous young women to dance – setting a new record for the most money spent in the club by a customer in one night.

To hire a girl to sit down for one hour costs £140 – and the punter paid seven women for five hours, costing a total of £4,900. The girls each picked up £700 before tips.

The other £16,395 lavished by the disappointed Bluebird went on tips for the dancers, with more of the 35 girls working in the club popping over to perform a £10 erotic topless dance or stripping off for £20.

Zena, 21, was one of those invited to dance for the mystery man and made £3,000 for her five hours’ work.

The bubbly brunette, who has worked at the club for three years, said: “He was really nice to speak to and he really started splashing the cash.

“He gave me loads of tips and £3,000 is the most I’ve ever made.

“We talked about general stuff and he was mentioning some celebrities he knew. He also talked about the football – he was pretty gutted with the result.”

The size eight stunner added: “I spent all night with him, which is very rare for a Saturday. We were doing topless dances for him and basically having a laugh.

“He loved it, he was getting drunk and had a big smile on his face. It was amazing, I had the best night ever.”

Fantasy Lounge owner Ian Willison said last night: “He started off with a couple of girls then he got up to seven around him.

“It’s like a feeding frenzy as soon as the girls notice there’s someone spending a lot of money.

“They all hovver around.

“He was with some guys and he was really showing off, drowning his sorrows after the football. He was gutted about Cardiff losing, saying it was a shame. But that soon went by the wayside.

“He had a good night in the end, and he certainly gave us a good night. There were a couple of big spenders in, people spending £1,200 or £1,500, but nothing compared to this.”

Mr Willison suspects the businessman may have been aware of the previous record for the most cash spent in the 200-capacity Fantasy Lounge and deliberately set out to beat it.

Following Wales’ 30-15 win over Scotland – the second match in this year’s Grand Slam – a fan from Lon- don spent £21,000 on champagne and eight women, though unusually he told them not to strip.

Mr Willison said last Saturday’s customer spent the most money he had seen since launching Fantasy Lounge in 1997.

“This was without doubt the most anyone has spent here in one night,” said Mr Willison. “It was phenomenal. I think he must have been trying a bit of ‘one-upmanship’ on the previous guy.”